Love Potion No9042
by SwiftWhiteWolf
Summary: Set during Lord Voldermort s first rise to power in the Marauders era. Severus Snape has just begun to teach at Hogwarts, and the clouds of war are brewing on the near horizon. In a time of escalating conflict, he finds himself facing challenges and trials alongside none other than...Sirius Black s younger sister! Will they live up to the expectations of others, or die trying?
1. Introduction

**Love Potion No. 9.042**

 **Introduction Summary**

Here are a few quick explanations so this story will make a bit more sense:

-This is a Severus Snape/Regulus Black story. Regulus was born 'Regula' instead and is a girl. She`s still Sirius Black`s younger sister, however, she was sorted in to Ravenclaw instead of Slytherin. The rest of the Blacks are all Slytherins except for Sirius who was put in Gryffindor.

-Severus and Regula met for the first time as Hogwarts students, but he was two years ahead of her. More about how/when they met will be included in later chapters as the story jumps between past and present in the Marauder`s era.

-The time Severus applied to work at Hogwarts has been altered, it`s a few years sooner than JKR`s original story. He is 24. Lily and James are together, and Lily has just found out she`s pregnant. The prophecy has not yet been made.

-Regula is currently apprenticing to become a teacher as well. Her cousins Bellatrix and Narcissa have already joined the Death Eaters, and she is under immense familiar pressure to follow in their footsteps as the youngest female of the Black line. Narcissa is currently engaged to Lucius Malfoy, but they haven`t been married yet.


	2. Chapter One

**Love Potion No. 9.042**

 **Present Day; October 31** **st,** **1979**

"Professor Snape? What are you doing?" Regula inquired; spotting the young professor slouched against the side of the tavern she was walking by on her way back to the castle. The man was sitting on a patch of grimy ice with his head between his knees. Straight, jaw length black hair hid his face from view, but Black spotted an empty bottle of something on the snow next to the professor in the alleyway. The intern crouched beside her former senior classmate on the balls of her feet. The area around the man reeked of alcohol; further down the alley Regula thought she saw a puddle of vomit. She waved a hand slowly in front of Snape`s face.

"Severus Snape, what is wrong with you?" The young woman asked him, gently shaking his shoulder. Dark eyes glared at her, unfocused through the curtain of his obsidian bangs as he grunted at her and shrugged her hand off by jerking his shoulder away. When he realized who was bent over him, he wished he hadn`t. Her presence was the only warm thing in this frigid waste of a life. Severus shoved his hair back out of his face in an uncoordinated gesture. He was drawn and pale, and his eyes were bleak, weary and red. Tears had carved uneven tracks over his dirty cheeks. In a hoarse voice that was slurred from his drunken state, the professor managed to utter a sentence.

"Whadaya want? Whada _you_ care fer?"

Regula gave him a disapproving look at this. She`d never seen the great Severus Snape this low before; had never expected in her wildest imaginings that he might act this way. Regula hadn`t even known the man drank alcohol; the only things she`d ever seen him drink were juice, tea, potions, and water. She also hadn`t known he had such a strong Yorkshire accent when he was sloshed. Seeing him like this was incredibly unsettling, something awful must have happened to him to make the man act this way. It made her heart ache to see someone she looked up to so much so obviously miserable.

"What happened to you? I know you haven`t been sacked, and you were fine earlier when I saw you at lunch. Ugh, you`re filthy. And what _is_ that? You reek like Jack Daniels and Firewhiskey." She snagged the bottle from his hand as he went to take another swig from it and sniffed its contents. As she`d thought; it was a muggle brand of drink, Jack Daniel`s Holiday Select, a 100 proof sour mash whiskey. It was 50% alcohol by volume, and that wasn`t taking in to account the empty bottle of Firewhiskey on the ground. There was maybe only a swallow of the Jack left in the bottle, and Regula promptly dumped it out and tossed the bottle away down the narrow alley.

"Felt lie ge`en plassered." Severus mumbled, wishing he hadn`t as his stomach roiled. If he`d had the rest of his wits about himself, he`d have been even more disgusted by his behavior than his currently addled mind was permitting. The professor was shaking; how long he`d been out here in the snow since they`d kicked him out of the bar he didn`t know. His clothes were soaked and he was chilled by a cold sweat. His head pounded fiercely as he tried to focus on Regula.

"You`d better have a good explanation for this when we get back to the castle. Come on; get off your ass before the hypothermia sets in. I`m taking you back to Hogwarts." Regula stood and held her gloved hands out to pull him up. After he`d grabbed them; she hauled him to his feet. Regula braced herself just in time as Snape stumbled drunkenly in to her, he was so dizzy he couldn`t even walk without help.

Severus had enough of a conscious left that he felt guilty that Regula had to help him walk. At the same time though, it was nice to feel like someone cared about him at least a little. Though she was a head shorter than he was, Regula still managed to catch him around the middle and keep them both standing when Severus lost his balance and nearly fell. Instead of landing face first in the shallow snow as he`d expected, he wound up pinning Regula to the opposite wall of the back street he`d been sitting in seconds before. Their bodies were touching from knee to shoulder and the side of her face rested against his chest right over his heart, which at this point was pounding wildly. He`d managed to keep himself from crushing her completely by throwing a hand out blindly towards the brick wall, and he could feel the sting where he`d scraped his palm raw. His left hand was on her right shoulder, and his face had ended up pressed in to her dark auburn hair, which smelled of cinnamon and crushed greens. _Damn it Severus pull yourself together!_ The man thought furiously as he took an unsteady step back, nearly tripping over his own feet again. Regula`s hands on his waist kept him standing once more, and when he`d stopped weaving for a moment, she ducked her head and drew the professor`s right arm across her shoulders. She kept hold of him with an arm around his waist. The right side of his body remained more or less pressed against hers as they began a slow walk back towards the school; Severus staggered along awkwardly and Regula made sure they didn`t wind up on the ground or bump in to anyone. It was almost midnight, which was a good thing since it meant that there weren`t many people on the street to crash in to. Snape was only grateful that there weren`t more to witness him in such a shameful state, it would kill him that Regula Black of all people would remember this.

"Easy does it, Severus. We`re not in any hurry, it`s not like we have class tomorrow anyways since it`s only Friday night." She tried to encourage him; it had always worked before for her when dealing with her brother when he was intoxicated. Regula wondered what was going through Severus Snape`s mind just then. What had happened to cause him to act this way? She didn`t berate him with inquiries anymore, he was having a hard enough time concentrating on walking in a straight line. When they`d made it nearly halfway back to Hogwarts, he asked her if they could pause for a moment. Regula told him that was fine and steered them over to a nearby park bench. The street lantern above it had guttered out, but the moon was almost full and that gave them plenty of light to see by since the sky was clear of clouds tonight. The snow on the ground was leftovers from yesterday`s premature October dusting, and the weather was just cold enough to permit the few inches to stick around.

Snape sat down hard on the bench, his head spinning and fit to split as his stomach rolled violently. Regula took a seat next to him in the middle of the bench to make sure he didn`t fall off. The potions master made a noise of warning before he draped himself over the bench`s armrest and was sick. His stomach continued to protest until he`d emptied it as quietly as he could. He spat the worst of the foul taste of bile from his mouth and groaned miserably. Regula tentatively reached out and rubbed wide, gentle circles across the back of his soaked cloak. While doing this, she also cast drying and temporary warming charms on him, which was the best she could do for now without risking making him more ill. He shivered unhappily from the cold and mumbled;

"Can we get the bloody hell out of here?" He wished he knew where his wand was so that he could dry his clothes off with a few charms and clean himself up, but his head ached too much to recall. He gave up and wiped his mouth on his already dirty sleeve before turning to look at her apologetically. Her silver gaze met his and she silently stood and held out her hand. He took it and she helped him to his feet once more, this time without incident.

They continued on their path until they reached the heavy front doors of the school. With a light touch from Regula`s right hand, said portal swung open to reveal a grand but currently empty foyer. _Thank the stars there`s no one else awake to see this._ Severus was still ashamed, and perhaps that burned worse in his gut than had the alcohol he`d imbibed earlier to drown his sorrows. He glanced sideways at his companion as they cut across the flagstone floor and made for the opposing hallway. Dimly lit by torches, her beautiful face seemed more determined and concerned than anything else. There was neither disgust nor pity in her expression when she looked back at him, before she turned to open another door on their right. This lead to a much narrower corridor, at the end of which was a set of stairs leading to the dungeons. Severus did not have to give the twenty year old any directions. Regula was formerly part of Ravenclaw House, but she had had close friends in Slytherin House too, Severus having been one of them in his last years as a student. Slytherin`s common room, as well as Snape`s classroom and quarters, were both located here. The young woman had served her share of detentions in the dungeons brewing potions and scrubbing cauldrons as well. When the pair of them reached the door to Snape`s office and quarters; they found it locked. Severus couldn`t recall where he`d put his key, so they had to settle for Regula breaking in with a complex charm.

"Deoperio." She commanded the barred wooden door as she placed a slender hand on the knob. It glowed briefly before clicking open and swinging inwards to permit them access. Severus felt like such a fool; he couldn`t even unlock his own door. How and why on earth did she care about what happened to him? Snape was bone weary and knew that Regula must be at this point too from helping him walk so far to get here. She`d practically had to carry him towards the end. His junior steered him over towards the coat rack he had next to the door before coaxing some tinder and kindling to light in the small stone fireplace set in to the left wall. Severus managed to fumble out of his sodden coat and outer robes, hanging them up to dry. He kicked his shoes off next to the door and closed it before anyone wandered by. That left him to stagger dizzily towards the now merrily crackling fire Regula had started. In his socks, jeans and a loose black long sleeve shirt, he was chilled to the bone. Regula saw him coming and eased an armchair closer to the fire for him to sit down in. She snagged a soft flannel blanket off the nearby couch and tossed it over the arm of said chair. Severus got to the chair alright before collapsing in it. He watched the young intern work as she set a tea kettle to heat with a charm and removed her own coat, gloves, and boots to dry. She also got rid of her wool turtleneck and left it with her coat. The result was her padding over to examine the professor in her fuzzy socks, dark blue jeans, and white, lace trimmed tank top. With a patience born of practice; she ran a brush and wash spell over him and charmed a set of clean flannel pajama pants and a shirt on him to replace his dirty, wet clothes. After cleaning him up a bit she also examined his hand, sterilizing and bandaging the deep scrape on his palm.

"Ouch!" Snape hissed softly as the spell cleansed his injury. Regula gave him a shrug and a look that was only slightly apologetic as the tea kettle began to whistle, signifying that it was done heating. The girl poured him a steaming cup of a blend he recognized as a stomach soothing tea. Severus wasn`t feeling too nauseous now; his stomach was already so empty it felt like a great pit inside of him. His entire body felt pretty frozen and hollow. A deep muscle ache was beginning to set in from having been out in the cold so long. He took the tea she handed him without protest and sipped at it clumsily, grateful for the little warmth it brought him.

That warmth was nothing compared to the feeling that someone cared about him. Of course, Severus that knew Dumbledore, Minerva, and others did to some extent as well, but where were they now? There was a noticeable difference besides age between his other coworkers and Regula, he decided. Dumbledore cared about the potions prodigy in that he was a useful tool for the headmaster to employ. Mc Gonagall worried after him in the way a distant relative might. Regula though, was the closest thing he had to a real friend. She came to visit him and play chess when they had time off. They sat next to each other at Quidditch matches whenever Slytherin played Ravenclaw, and ribbed each other about who would win and why. During meals the two would often discuss with each other and Professor Sprout possible uses for various herbs and plants. Without him realizing, Regula had gone from being a polite acquaintance to a keystone in his life since they had reunited here after college. Each truly cared about the other. It wasn`t romantic love, but it was real and Severus found it mattered to him more than he was happy to admit. He had struggled for months with curiosity to know if she felt the same. Regula had been mercilessly erasing his doubts in that time, one by one, without even knowing. He had never said a word to her on the subject, had never asked. The small things she did though showed him the truth. No one else made him chicken soup from scratch to bring by when he was sick. No one else offered to take his finished books back to the library because they were already heading there. And who but Regula would spend their free time sparring with him on the weekend? In a word, she was thoughtful. More than anyone else seemed to be towards the potions professor. It wasn`t simply that she did things for him, either. Regula made him think. She wasn`t shy about asking questions or debating the possible uses of a spell, suggesting the modification of a potion for improvement, or in general discussing at length the mysteries of life. Unlike most fools who prattled on about a subject without researching their sources first, the young woman validated her facts from either experience or respectable sources. She was consistently one of the most frustrating, interesting, and reliable people he had ever met. That she was four years his junior seemed irrelevant, when her mind was sharper than the majority intellect of those twice her age. Regula was loyal like a Hufflepuff, brave like a Gryffindor, clever as a true Ravenclaw, and as resourceful as any Slytherin. Severus was grateful that she was on his side and they were close. At times he thought that perhaps she was too close though, like today. By building their current friendship he sometimes felt as though he might be betraying a past one.

The first friend he had ever made and the first he had lost: Lily Evans. _Lily. She`s the reason I`m like this in the first place. This all started because I looked at the calendar and saw that it was Halloween. When we were kids we always used to go out together, and dig through mountains of candy back at her parent`s house afterwards. They`d stuff us full of cider and doughnuts and tell us spooky stories. There was always so much food and laughter and warmth, and I was invited to share that. Now she celebrates with him, at his family`s annual party. In a few years, they`ll probably be taking their own children out to beg for candy, and I wished things were different. That could have been us. That kills me. This pain and hatred might`ve been the death of me if Regula hadn`t found me earlier. She doesn`t even know why I was at that tavern. Regula has no idea that I went there to drown myself in the guilt our friendship has caused me. It`s purely coincidence that she found me. I was upset because I realized today that I may be falling in love with her, and I can`t let happen. Not because I think there is hope for myself and Lily, or anyone else. It`s because… I will fail her. Someday I`ll hurt her, or she will be hurt because of me. Just like Lily was, and then she`ll abandon me too. I can`t go through that again. I can`t let myself be that vulnerable. I would rather die than fall in love._

While Severus was brooding Regula was watching him closely. At first she had thought that he was fixing to be sick again, but after a moment she had realized the expression he wore was because he was thinking about something that was hurting him inside. She guessed that it was somehow related to her because of the intensity of his stare as his eyes seemed to be trying to bore a hole through her while she sipped at her own cup of tea. She frowned slightly and stoked the fire when she noticed that he was still shivering even under the blankets she`d piled on him. She huffed in frustration as his teeth began to chatter; she`d been worried he might be suffering from partial hypothermic shock when she`d seen the color of his feet and hands. His lack of coordination and apparent confusion earlier could have also been signs of moderate hypothermia, but she hadn`t been sure because of his drunken state. Regula could see plainly now though that he wasn`t warming up fast enough.

"Get on the couch." She told him firmly, taking the now damp blanket from him and exchanging it for a dry one. She stood next to the indicated sofa, and her expression said plainly that he`d better not argue with her. Severus gave her a bewildered look before struggling to his feet as he asked;

"Why?" His tone was uncertain from both confusion and because his teeth were still chattering away.

"Because you aren`t getting warm quickly enough. Your body is going to go in to hypothermic shock if I don`t get you thawed out. Madame Pomfrey`s still away at the Healers` Conference, I can`t apparate you to St. Mungo`s, and the Hogwarts Floo Network is currently down. Pretty much everyone else is either passed out or drunk from celebrating the holiday a little too enthusiastically. The Headmaster is zonked out in his office too; McGonagall split a bottle of homemade elderberry wine with him earlier. Let`s just say that a quarter of a fifth of that stuff could put down a mountain troll, and they emptied the whole bottle. Just don`t give me any grief, I`m trying to help you." She threw the new blanket over the professor as he lay down on the couch. Then she grabbed another blanket and poured them both fresh mugs of hot tea and set them on the low wooden table in front of the couch. Before he could protest, Regula slipped under the covers herself and pulled his arms around her, then embraced him as well to share her body heat.

Severus gasped in sudden shock when Regula got on the sofa with him and pressed them together. His first thought was; _she`s so warm!_ His second thought was; _this is impossible! How can she stand to be this close to me?!_ But her cheek was lying against his shoulder now, and her slender arms were strong and warm and very real around him. The cinnamon-green scent of her hair his mind might have been able to fabricate, but the sensation of it as said locks tickled his bare throat and jaw was too realistic. Her entire body was pressed against him in one long unbroken line, seeming to burn like fire against his own, which felt like he was encased in a layer of frost. Severus involuntarily shivered against the young woman; he buried his face against the warmth of her neck to keep his teeth from chattering. Her skin felt like a cross between cashmere and silk, and smelled like warm vanilla; the pulse his lips were now pressed against fascinated him. He hadn`t realized she had stopped moving and breathing until the young woman quietly sighed out the breath she`d been holding. Apparently, Severus had startled her by nuzzling in to her neck. Panicked and embarrassed at his own thoughtless behavior; he tried to pull away, unable to get very far because the couch just wasn`t that large with them both lying on it pressed together as they were. However, he was stopped when Regula`s embrace tightened. She had settled down and begun to relax against the other professor, the side of her neck where his face had been touching a moment before was clearly bare to him now, as she`d swept her hair to the other side of her face. Taking the invitation for what it was; Snape cautiously laid his head next to hers on the pillows they were sharing. Since they were facing each other, his mouth ended up lightly touching the hollow of her throat since she had wriggled up more towards the arm of the couch to catch Severus when he`d tried to pull away. Tentatively, the young man wrapped an arm around his savior so that his hand was resting on her right hip, which was now exposed. It was more difficult than Snape wanted to admit not to trace along the edge of where Regula`s shirt had ridden up to show an inch wide sliver of smooth, lightly tanned skin. He smiled slightly at how comfortable she seemed to be around him, especially like this. That caused his lips to move against her throat again; this time it was Regula who shivered involuntarily. The professor marveled that such a simple brush of movement had Regula`s pulse pounding so wildly. She wasn`t quite as relaxed against him as she had been a moment before; Snape could feel how taut the muscles in her stomach were where their torsos were pressed together. Her heartbeat was strong enough that he could feel that in her abdomen too. Regula`s breath hitched for a moment as Severus spoke against her throat;

"Regula?" His tone was soft, curious, and much clearer now that some of the alcohol and hypothermic effects were beginning to wear off.

"What?" She asked him back. Her voice sounded a little odd because she was trying very hard not to move anymore. This had seemed like a good idea at the time, but now she wasn`t so sure. There was something wrong about her liking the way his lips were brushing her neck.

"Why are you taking care of me like this? What does it matter to you?" Questions, more questions, it seemed like he was just full of them tonight. Something was making his chest ache though; he had to know what she was thinking, what she felt about him. It wouldn`t do him any good, probably wouldn`t do either of them any good, but the potions master had to know just the same. Regula hesitated when she answered, it seemed like maybe she had had to rethink what she might have said otherwise.

"Because I- well someone`s got to, don`t they? Take care of you I mean. You obviously aren`t doing a very good job on your own if you wound up like this." She tried to look down at him causing her chin to rest on top of his head, since he was still nuzzled against her, he seemed to be hiding. "Oh hell that`s not what I meant! Don`t be like that." She told him, suddenly angry as he flinched. She snagged his hand from where he`d begun to pull it back as if he was hurt. She tugged the hand back to her side, where she folded it gently around her hip as it had been before. It took her a second to draw a breath before she explained;

"I was worried about you, I guess. Pomona mentioned something to me while we were sharing lunch earlier; she said you seemed out of sorts today. She asked me to bring you the package that`s in my coat pocket right now. She told me to give it to you specifically, and not to leave it lying around. She said it was delicate and that you had forgotten it when you stopped in earlier today, that it seemed very important to you that you get it as quickly as possible. She also made a point of telling me that you could probably use a friend`s company for a while this evening. When the last class let out I came to find you, but you were already gone. I checked for you at dinner and didn`t see you there either, Minerva muttered something about you being really upset earlier and she said you`d mentioned maybe heading to a tavern for a drink."

Regula had to pause in her explanation now as Severus suddenly shifted far enough back that he was able to look her in the eye with their faces level. His dark eyes were stormy as he practically growled; "What else did she share with you?" His left hand was now gripping her hip rather firmly; his other was resting next to them on the arm of the couch. His whole body was singing with tension from what Regula guessed was embarrassment and indignation.

"Nothing!" The witch glared back at him, irritated at the interruption but also feeling incredibly awkward about the entire situation and the fact that his masculine hand on her very feminine hip was making her skin tingle. She continued her story;

"I figured that meant that you had gone to Hogsmeade, and I didn`t have any other plans anyways, so I decided to track you down. I wanted to know if I could help, or at least get you that stupid box and whatever`s in it. I had no idea there were so many taverns and bars in that little village, and I didn't think you drank alcohol in the first place. I`ve never even seen you sample the wine or brandy at dinner during holidays like the rest of the staff! It took me forever to find you, and even then I wasn`t sure at first if it was you or not because you were so shitfaced." Regula`s tone held a quiet rage; she couldn`t believe Snape had done this to himself. He was someone she looked up to, and someone she admired deeply. _Perhaps a little too deeply…_ She thought as she watched him hide his face and shamed blush behind the black curtain of his long hair. In the midst of this, Regula noticed that his hair was getting a decent bit longer than she`d seen it before, sort of shaggy right now because it was a little mussed up. Was it wrong that she wanted to comb her hands through it? Embarrassed for having thought about such a thing; Regula huffed out a small, frustrated breath and tried to calm her frazzled nerves.

Still partially hiding behind his hair, Severus told her; "I`m sorry you had to find me like that. You`re right, I normally don`t drink. Honestly just the smell of alcohol is enough to put me off it most of the time. I`m sorry you had to go through all that trouble for me." His somewhat haunted face had paled with shame, making his dark eyes contrast even more than usual as he tried to avoid Regula`s reproachful gaze. The young woman watched him watching her reactions with a clouded expression. Then her eyebrows drew together in a frown and she sighed at him. Impatiently, she pushed his hair back so he couldn`t hide any longer and turned his chin up to face her.

"Instead of hiding behind your hair when I talk to you, how about you look at me? Instead of apologizing for having a bad day, why don`t you tell me what`s going on? I know you have this stupid misconception that sharing your troubles with others is somehow burdening them, but that`s not true. It no effort for me to listen when you`re upset, and you aren`t making extra work for me or anything foolish like that by talking about it. What bothers me is worrying about you, and having to scrape you off the cobblestones of an alley with hypothermia because you decided to drown your issues." Her expression was harsh, but her tone was gentle.

Still, Severus felt somewhat threatened and was ashamed. Shame led him to anger, and the liquor wasn`t helping him control his admittedly short temper. He cocked his head to one side suddenly, jerking away again. In a low voice he told her; "No one asked you to. I didn`t tell you to worry about me, or come hunting me down, or to take care of me. I didn`t ask you to witness me humiliating myself, and I sure as hell didn`t sign up for a lecture! And as for my _'issues'_ , if I don`t want to discuss all the annoying, intolerable things that are bothering me, I damn well don`t have to! Not with you, or Professor Sprout, or the Headmaster, or anyone else. So don`t treat me like a child and act like I`m inconveniencing you. You make your own choices, and I`ll make mine. I`m not going to ask you to explain them, and I won`t explain mine either, so if you`re going to keep asking about it then just leave me alone." Finally he looked away, his throat tight with anger and his hands tight with tension. Something pricked at the back of his eyes. Tears, he realized, of anger and hurt and despair. _I can`t be this weak. I won`t! I refuse!_ He wished she would go, leaving him to his anger, shame, and the cold. But he wished she would stay too, getting in his face and pushing him. No one else did. No one really forced him to be a better person or to feed his ambitions. But Regula Black seemed to make him want to.

For a long moment she only stared at him. He forced himself first to keep looking away, then to meet her gaze. When he did he wished he hadn`t. Her eyes, which had been concerned and kind a moment ago were now empty. Regula wore a cold expression, which Severus was unable to read. He had only seen her visage like that once before. She never responded to Severus`s inquiry of what caused it. Now, she had that same empty look. Absolute zero, he thought. _Is this where she leaves me? If Regula walks out that door right now, she might not come back._ She moved. His hand left a bruise on her hip as he thought she was trying to sit up and exit. Instead of leaving, Regula reached over to the table for her tea and calmly sipped it. She seemed to be thinking about what to say next as she coolly drained the cup. It chinked softly against the saucer she returned it to. She glanced down at him. For a second of eternity she said nothing, but her gaze made him feel like an insect about to be crushed. A simple sentence from her lips sent his world spinning.

"I have never treated you as anything but a man. One whom I respect and consider dear to me. Talk to me like that again though, and I can`t promise what state you or this room with be in when I do leave." _And I will never come back_ was left unspoken between them. Her tone had been clear and cold, like ice given a voice. She smiled, shattering the frigid mask for a split second. The blood drained from Severus`s face as he watched her and his heart raced a panicked beat. What he was feeling was fear. But, was it for her leaving or for the way she had just acted? He couldn`t tell, and in fact couldn`t seem to speak as Regula reclined and laid her head back on the pillow once more. Her arms were raised and folded between the pillow and the arm of the couch behind her head. She closed her eyes and still Severus failed to muster his voice. Ten tense minutes passed this way. She lying relaxed and comfortable, he struggling to contain his drunken emotions and still respond to her. Finally the man was able to process words. They came out hoarse and rough as he said;

"Sorry." A smirk curved her lips just slightly as she pulled him down against her side and replied;

"Go to sleep." Inexplicably, he laid his head down and obeyed.


End file.
